The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, local area networks (LANs) typically operate in an ad-hoc mode or an infrastructure mode. In FIG. 1, an exemplary LAN operating in the ad-hoc mode is shown. In the ad-hoc mode, each one of the client stations 10-1, 10-2, and 10-3 (collectively client stations 10) communicates directly with other client stations 10 without using an access point (AP). In FIG. 2, an exemplary LAN operating in the infrastructure mode is shown. In the infrastructure mode, each one of the client stations 20-1, 20-2, and 20-3 (collectively client stations 20) communicates with other client stations 20 through an AP 24. Additionally, the AP 24 may connect the client stations 20 to a network 26, a server 28, and to the Internet 30.
Referring now to FIG. 3, the AP 24 transmits beacons to the client stations 20 at a predetermined time interval called a beacon interval. Additionally, the AP 24 transmits a probe response to a client station 20 when the AP 24 receives a probe request from the client station 20.
Based on the beacon interval, each client station 20 can determine a corresponding duration of time to sleep or operate in a power save mode before waking up to communicate with the AP 24. Thus, the client stations 20 can save power by periodically sleeping or operating in the power save mode. The AP 24 stays powered on to transmit beacons at the beacon interval and to transmit probe responses when probe requests are received from the client stations 20.